The Writing University Open Courses website provides MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) for creative writing through the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, which will offer new opportunities for the study and practice of creative writing and literary analysis to an unlimited number of participants around the world.

The first MOOC, Every Atom: Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself, offers participants the opportunity to read, consider, and discuss the epic poem over a six-week course. Roy J. Carver Professor of English Ed Folsom and International Writing Program Director Christopher Merrill will lead the examination of Song of Myself through video lectures, live breakout sessions, and ongoing online discussion. Hosted by the University of Iowa’s Virtual Writing University, Every Atom will open in mid-February 2014.

In June 2014 the second MOOC, an interactive study of the practice of creative writing, will launch. How Writers Write: Talks on Craft and Commitment will present a curated collection of short, intimate talks created by forty authors of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and literary translation. IWP Director Christopher Merrill will contextualize these video talks through lecture materials and online discussion, while contributing authors will offer live question-and-answer sessions to course participants. How Writers Write will offer a diversity of answers to the question of how a writer develops and refines the lifelong practice of his/her craft.

Further information on IWP MOOC development may be found here.